Rowdy Crowds Mar Cuba Diving Cup

With raucous crowd distractions reminiscent of last year`s Pan American Games in Havana, the Cuba Diving Cup provided a similar backdrop for the Fort Lauderdale Diving Team.

The team returned to Fort Lauderdale Monday with mixed results after the three-day meet. FLDT lost to Cuba 76-74. After dropping the first three events FLDT came back to win both titles on 10-meter platform and the men`s 3-meter springboard.

Scott Donie and Mary Ellen Clark won platform titles. Kent Ferguson, who won the gold medal at the Pan Am Games, duplicated his performance by winning the 3-meter title.

FLDT`s lack of a second entry in men`s platform cost it the team title.

``The crowd was like the Pan Am Games,`` said six-time Olympic and FLDT coach Ron O`Brien. ``They were rude. They had to stop a couple contests because of people yelling and whistling.``

Jenny Keim, 13, of FLDT and youngest member of the U.S. national team, was third on platform, her highest finish in an international meet. Her previous best was eighth in Acapulco.

SWIMMING

Laura Reback of North Palm Beach and Eric Christensen of the Plantation Swim Team head a large local contingent competing in the U.S. Swimming Junior Nationals in Nashville, Tenn., today through Saturday.